High dielectric constant polymer composites have attracted great interest recently for applications such as bypass capacitor in microelectronics and energy-storage devices. By combining ceramic materials of large permittivity with polymers of high breakdown strength, devices having superior energy storage capacity may be obtained.
Compared to conventional ceramic materials, polymer-based dielectric materials offer processing advantages, such as mechanical flexibility and ability to be molded onto intricate configurations for electronic and electric devices with reduced volume and weight.
Because of differences in surface characteristics between the inorganic reinforcement fillers and the organic matrix, however, it is difficult to disperse the reinforcement fillers uniformly. This in turn affects electrical performance of the inorganic-polymer composites negatively.
In view of the above, inorganic-polymer nanocomposites have been prepared using methods, such as mechanical blending and solution mixing, to improve nanoparticle dispersion in the polymer matrix. These methods suffer from drawbacks such as nanoparticle aggregation and phase separation as a result of host guest incompatibilities, which are detrimental to electrical properties of the inorganic-polymer nanocomposites.
In view of the above, there remains a need for a method to prepare inorganic-polymer nanocomposites that overcomes or at least alleviates one or more of the above-mentioned problems.